Highway 101 is closed at just north of Jitney Gulch in Leggett, from a rock slide. Bell Springs road is probably snowed in. The road washed completely away between Whitmore Grove and Ruby Valley. The ground is so soaked up from weeks of rain that trees all just saying "I give up" and tipping over. The good news is that we haven't had a wind to blow the trees over in the sodden soil, or an earthquake that would cause liquefaction.
Somehow all this stuff doesn't bother me. I've got a wood stove, I have a wood powered water heater. The power is on, but if it goes off I have a generator. I've got food in the cupboard, and a good dog, and a good wife. (I guess that I should have put the wife first) Anyway things are good. I'm just really thankful that I don't need to go anywhere, and at least now I have an excuse not to go anywhere.
Go to Kym Kemp's blog, she has really been on a roll lately. click this link: http://kymkemp.com/2011/03/26/hwy-101-closed-and-so-is-hwy-96/
This link will open her whole blog, scroll through and check all the road posts: http://kymkemp.com
Then come back here, we'll roast some marshmallows, and try to figure out how much better of we are than our ancestors were back in the 1960's during a bad winter.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
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9 comments:
Hang in their Ernie!!!!
101 has one lane controlled traffic. We're free!
Kym is the up to the minute news source for online SoHum. I wouldn't head that way without checking her blog.
From Lucy Young, Covelo Indian woman. Witnessed the execution of Chief Lassic in Fort Seward. This is what she had to say about “Hard Winter”
“White people talk ‘bout hard time. I never seen it yet. This country. Round Valley. (Covelo) Once, long time ago, hard winter, too much long snow, rain, can’t get nothing to eat. People began to eat their deerskin. Had pepperwood nuts gathered. Each of us little ones get four pepperwood nuts for supper, swinge hair off, blister skin by fire. It all swell up, look like bread rising, then eat like this. That’s only hard time I see.
When snow going off, father went out, can’t walk far. Too weak. Eat nothing. Find big white fungus on black oak. He bring it home, pound up fine, heat up rock, put in water, cook in basket. Then find long grass under trees, dry in basket over fire. Pound it for pinole.
Got no roots, pound Manzanita berries, stone and all, make pinole.
On Mad River white oaks have black moss, pound it out, squeeze it out, cook it thick, taste like acorns. Pretty black, but glad to eat.
Wolf starving too, catch deer, run down in deep snow. Wolf eat buck meat too much, throw it up. Our people find it, wash it off, cook it, eat it.
That what I call hard winter.”
Thanks for the reporting on the roads, Kym and Kim.
Trapped? Lucy Young's story puts everything into real perspective. Thanks for including that, Ernie.
I remember one long, wet winter when the wood had just ran out. Old paperbacks and a wooden chair were sadly sacrificed to the 'tin wonder' for warmth. The boiler for the shower, though, stayed from hot to lukewarm for 24 hours after it's fire died down-- taking a shower felt not only good but warmed up the bones when you needed it most. Not nearly as hard as Lucy Young's hard time, though.
Time to hunker down and stay awhile. Keep the wood burning, take out a good book, pat the dog, love the wife, Ernie. Not necessarily in that order.
C'mon Spring.
My favorite dog now, is my wifes dog, she calls her "Twizzle". The dog before this one was mine. Her name was "Spring". Does that tell you anything?
Winter 1966. Snow and wind coming in cracks in walls. Well froze. Snow to deep to get to out house. Me and my two brothers sleep with four dogs and all of our clothes on. Woke up with rat eating my hair. Had to eat sister's pet Little red (calf) no feed for animals. So cold rabbits won't move. Just walk up and club them. Freeze before you could skin them. Real hungry! But didn't eat my dogs that winter.
Winter 1966. Snow and wind coming in cracks in walls. Well froze. Snow to deep to get to out house. Me and my two brothers sleep with four dogs and all of our clothes on. Woke up with rat eating my hair. Had to eat sister's pet Little red (calf) no feed for animals. So cold rabbits won't move. Just walk up and club them. Freeze before you could skin them. Real hungry! But didn't eat my dogs that winter.
I guess everybody has has a harder winter than me. My mild winter came during 1968 when I lived in a cabin East of Zenia. I had to feed my bear dogs deer meat cuz I couldn't afford sacked dog food and to make things worse, my toilet water was froze every morning and had to pry my boots off the floor where they froze.
Oregon
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